Can-soldering and surplus-solder-removing machine.



No. 797,899. v PATENTED AUG. 22, 1905. M. LEITGH.

CAN SOLDBRING AND SURPLUS $0LDER REMOVING MAGHINE.

APPLICATION FILED $32112, 1904.

ii I f Ira/25557: Meredd /oZezZc/z No. 797,899. iATENTED AUG. 22, 1905. M. LEITGH. CAN sommnme AND SURPLUSYSOLDBR REMOVING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 811F112, 1304.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.MEREDITI-I LEITOH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CAN-SOLDERING AND SURPLUS-SOLDER-REMOVING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1905.

Application filed September 12, 1904- Serial No. 224,055.

To (1/7 2 whom, it misty concern:

Be it known that I, MEREDITH LEITCH, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Can-Soldering and Surplus-Solder-Removing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for soldering the end seams of sheetmetal cans and removing surplus solder therefrom, and more particularly to improvements in machines of the kind or class wherein the end seams of the cans are soldered by rolling the cans along a runway or track first through or in contact with a flux bath or device and then through a solder bath or device, two run- .Ways being employed, one for soldering one end of the can and the other for soldering the other end thereof.

The object of my invention is to-provide a machine or mechanism of a simple, efficient, and durable construction by means ofwhich after the end seams of the cans have been soldered in the usual way by rolling them in an inclined position through a solder-bath the surplus solder may be removed before it becomes set or cooled from the outside surface or corners of the cans which were immersed in the molten solder in the soldering operation and by which such outside corner surface of the can may be polished and its original tin luster restored without scratching or injury or removing the tin coating or in any way interfering with the perfection of the soldered joint and by which this work may be done rapidly and cheaply.

In practicing my invention I prefer to employ a can-end-soldering machine of the kind shown and described in the Hodgson and Taliaferro patent, No. 704,257, of July 8, 1902, and comprising, essentially, a flux bath or device, a solder bath or device, a pair of transverselyinclined runways, means for rolling the cans along the runways, a pair of cooling-belts, and means for delivering the cans from one cooling belt after one end thereof has been soldered to the other runway for soldering the other end seam of the can, and I have therefore shown in the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this specification, that end or portion of said Hodgson and Taliaferro patent soldering-machine with which my imthe cansand permit the same to rotate While i being carried around by the turrets, a pair of endless belts each having a run or loop partially surrounding one of the turrets for causing the cans to rotate on their axes as they are carried around by the turrets, longitudinally-inclined chutes or runways for delivering the cans to the turrets, chutes or runways for delivering the cans from the turrets to the cooling-belts, and rapidly-rotating soft cylindrical buffers mounted on the stationary frame of the machine and engaging the flat or disk surface of the can-heads asthe rotating cans are carried around by the turrets to remove the surplus solder by a buffing action from the flat or disk surface of the can-heads, and rapidly-rotating buffers having curved peripheries corresponding to the path of the cans on the turrets and engaging the cylindrical surfaces of the can-head flanges and of the canbodies adjacent thereto to remove surplus solder from such surfaces as the cans are rotated and carried around by the turrets.

My invention also consists in the novel construction of parts and devices and in the novel combinations of parts and devices herein shown or described.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan view of a mechanism embodying my invention, showing that portion of the solderingmachine to which my improvement directly connects and cooperates. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. F ig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4. 4 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a detail partial sectional view of one of the rotary buffers.

In the drawings, A represents the frame'of the machine.

B B are the transversely-inclined tracks or runways, along which the cans are rolled through the molten solder 0 in the solder bath or vessel O. Each of the can-runways B B has a lower guide I) for the lower end of the rolling cans to bear against and an upper guide I).

C is a heater, preferably a coalburning furnace, for keeping the solder c molten.

D D are the cooling-belts traveling on horizontal pulleys D, by which the cans are held and conveyed in an upright position after the soldering and solder-removing operations on each end thereof.

E E are endless conveyers or chains traveling on pulleys E for rolling the cans along the runways B B.

-E E are compressed-air trunks or conductors by which air is projected against the cans on the cooling-belts to aid in cooling the cans.

F F are horizontally rotating turrets mounted on upright standards A of the frame and furnished with driving-pulleys F for rotating the same. Each of these turrets F F is furnished with a series of can-pockets f and antifriction-rollersf, having upright shafts f extending between the upper and lower disks or plates f f of the turret. Each of the turrets is also preferably provided with belt-rollers or pulleys f .v I

G G are endlessbelts traveling on pulleys G and each having a runor loop 9 partially surrounding the turret and contacting with the cans thereof or in the pockets thereof to cause the cans to rotate each on its own axis as the turret revolves.

H H are longitudinally-inclined and transversely-twisted chutes or runways for delivering the cans from the runways B B onto the turrets F F, respectively. Each of the runways H H is furnished with side guides 70 to direct the cans into the pockets of the turrets as the turrets rotate continuously. The endless belts G G also cooperate with the runways H H and the side guides it thereof to aid in delivering the cans into the turrets.

K K are longitudinally-inclined chutes for delivering the cans from the turrets'F F to thecooling-belts DD, respectively, after the surplus sold er has been removed from the outside surface of the can-heads and can-bodies at the corners of the cans.

M M are rapidly-rotating soft cylindrical buflfers adapted to engage the flat or disk surface of the can-heads as the cans are rotated on their axes and carried around by the turret, and N N are rapidly-rotatingsoft buffers having curved peripheries corresponding to the curvature of the path of,the cans as they are carriedaround by the turrets and engaging the outside cylindrical surface of the can-head flanges and of the can-bodies adjacent thereto to remove the surplus solder from such surface of the cans as the cans are rotated and carried around by the turrets. Each of the rotary buflers M M N N is preferably composed of a series of light thin soft flexible textile circular disks 0", clamped together on the shafts of the buffers with interposed washers or disks 7* of smaller diameter.

The shafts M of the rotary bufiers M M are furnished with pulleys m, and motion is communicated from the one to the other by a crossing belt m, and these two rotary buffers are driven at the requiredhigh speed to produce a buffing action on the molten-sol der-coated surface of the cans by a pulley m on the shaft of one of the buffers through a belt 072* from any suitable driving-pulley.

The rotary buffers N N are preferably both mounted on the same driving-shaft N which is furnished with a pulley n and driven by a belt 91, at the required high speed to produce a buffing action on the cans.

I claim 1. The combination with a solder-bath of two transversely-inclined runways for the cans, means for rolling the cans along said runways, two cooling-belts, two rotating turrets each furnished with pockets and antifriction-rollers to receive the cans, two endless turrets, longitudinally-inclined runways for delivering the cans to the turrets, and chutes for delivering the cans from the runways to the cooling-belts, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a solder bath, transversely-inclined runways for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runways,

rotating can-carrying turrets having pockets to receive the cans automatically as they roll along the runways, means for rotating the cans as they are carried around by the turrets, rotary cylindrical buffers engaging the can-heads, and rotary buffers engaging the can-head flanges and can-bodies, substantially as specified. I

3. The combination with a solder 'bath,

transversely-inclined runways for the cans,-

means for rolling the cans along the runways, rotating can-carrying turrets having pockets to receive the cans automatically as they roll along the runways, means for rotating the cans as they are carried around by the turrets, rotary cylindrical buffers engaging the can-heads, rotary buffers engaging the canhead flanges and can-bodies, and inclined runways for delivering the cans to the turrets, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with the solder-bath, transversely-inclined runways, for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the run ways, rotating can-carrying turrets having pockets to automatically receive the cans from inclined can-delivery runways, inclined runways for delivering the cans to the turrets, coolingbelts, and chutes for delivering the cans from the turrets to the cooling-belts, Substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, an inclined chute or runway for delivering the cans to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive the cans as they roll along said inclined chute or runway and a rotary cylindrical buffer for removing surplus solder substantially as specified.

6. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the run way, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, an inclined chute or runway for delivering the cans to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive-the cans from said inclined chute or runway as they roll along the same two rotary buffers, one engaging the flat or disk surface of the can-head and the other the cylindrical surface of the can-head flange and body to remove surplus solder therefrom, substantially as specified.

7. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, an inclined chute or runway for delivering the cans to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive the cans from said inclined chute or runway as they roll along the same a rotary cylindrical buffer engaging the flat or disk surface of the can-head, and a rotary buifer having a curved periphery engaging the cylindrical surface of the can head and body as the cans are carried around and rotated by the turret, substantially as speci- 8. The combination of a solder-bath, with runway for the cans,means for rolling the cans along the runway, a cooling-belt, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, a rotary bufl'er, an inclined chute or runway to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive the cans from said inclined chute or runway as they roll along the same and a chute for delivering the cans from the turret to the cooling-belt, substantially as specified.

9. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a cooling-belt, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, a runway for delivering the cans to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive the cans from said inclined chute or runway as they roll along the same a chute for delivering the cans from the turret to the cooling-belt, and two rotary buffers engaging the corner surfaceof the cans, substantially as specified.

10. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a cooling-belt, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, a runway for delivering the cans to the turret, said turret having pockets to automatically receive the cans from said inclined chute or runway as they roll along the same achute for delivering the cans from the tu rretto the cooling-belt, a rotary cylindrical buffer engaging the head-surface of the can, and a rotary buifer engaging the cylindrical surface of the can as the cans are carried around and rotated by the turret, substantially as specified.

11. The combinationwith asolder-bath, ofa runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a cooling-belt, a rotating can-carrying turret, means for rotating the cans on the turret, a runway for delivering the cans to the turret, a chute for delivering the cans from the turret to the cooling-belt, a rotary cylindrical bufler engaging the headsurface of the can, and a rotary buffer engaging the cylindrical surface of the can as the cans are carried around and rotated by the turret, said last-mentioned bufler having a curved periphery corresponding to the curved path of the cans as they are carried around by the turret, substantially as specified.

12. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a rotating can-carrying turret having antifriction-rollers engaging the cans, an endless belt having a run partially surrounding the turret to rotate the cans, an inclined chute or runway for delivering the cans to the turret, and a rotary cylindrical buffer for removing surplus solder from the cans, substantially asspecified.

13. The combination with a solder-bath, of a runway for the cans, means for rolling the cans along the runway, a rotating can-carrying turret having antifriction-rollers engaging the cans, an endless belt having a run partially surrounding the turret to rotate the cans, an inclined chute or runway for delivering the cans to the turret, a rotary cylindrical buffer for removing surplus solder from the cans, a cooling-belt, and a chute for delivering the cans from the turret to the cooling-belt, substantially as specified.

14:. In a can-end-soldering and surplus-solder-removing machine, the combination with a soldering mechanism, of a horizontally-rotating turret furnished with antifrictionroller pockets in its periphery to receive the cans, and an endless-belt conveyer having a looped run partly surrounding said turret for rotating the cans as the-turret revolves, and rotating buffers engaging the freshly soldered seams of the cans as the cans rotate, substantially as specified.

15. In a can-end-soldering and surplus-solder-removing machine, the combination with a solder mechanism, of a rotating turr'et furnished with antifriction-rollers forming pockets to receive the cans between them, an endless-belt conveyer having a looped run partially surrounding said turret for rotating the cans as the turret revolves, a rotary butter engaging the head or bottom of the can, and a second rotary bufier engaging the side or body of the can, substantially as specified.

MEREDITH LEITOH.

WVitnesses:

W. F. DUTTON, A. R. GIBBS. 

